(I) With respect to a game playing information integration system, it has been conventionally a proposition to design gaming machines which sell well for manufacturers to design, manufacture, and sell gaming machines. As approaches for achieving this object, it has been a routine practice to introduce new functions or stage effects to induce a sense of expectation or to promote famous copyrights in contents that are used in gaming machines while paying a large amount of license fees. However, manufacturers themselves have intuitively or experientially determined as to whether or not the device is an excellent gaming machine; and therefore, even if these approaches are employed, the popularity of gaming machines has often superseded the manufacturers' predictions.
Incidentally, for example, there are a variety of players' preferences for gaming machines such as differences in players' preferences depending on geographical conditions such as local area characteristics such as Kyushu or Tokyo or whether or not the condition of location is near universities, differences in preferences of customer categories depending on time intervals such as differences in visit time of housewives or businessmen, or differences in preferences of fixed customers (manias), unfixed customers (browsing customers), or novices (beginners), and such preferences are different depending on players. In addition, in respect of the management side of gaming facilities, requests for gaming machines that they desire to install in the gaming facilities are also different depending on the gaming facilities. For example, one gaming facility of the adjacent two gaming facilities desires to install gaming machines of such device type to stimulate gambling mind of players, whereas the other gaming facility desires to install gaming machines of such device type to enjoy the play of game over a long period of time without exerting such gambling mind. Namely, even within a same local area, the requests from the gaming facilities as to gaming machines may be different depending on management policy. Therefore, on the manufacturers' side, it is impossible to satisfy the requests of all players and gaming machines, and it is also unavoidable to design gaming machines while taking the greatest common preferences of all.
In such a present situation, in order for a gaming facility to obtain the maximal profit, the gaming facility itself must continuously install gaming machines of which device type and number is assigned in accordance with the request of that gaming facility and the preferences of players visiting the gaming facility.
However, timing of replacement with gaming machines of new device type has been conventionally determined on the basis of rule of thumb; and therefore, a difference takes place with economic efficiency related to the replacement, depending on persons who determine such replacement, and as a result, there has been apprehension that the gaming facility loses profit. In addition, while, in a gaming machine, settings which are able to change a winning probability in a predetermined range are provided at a plurality of stages in general, these settings are often adjusted on the basis of rule of thumb; and therefore, a balance between improvement of ability to attract customers by setting a current mode to a high probability mode, the profit of the gaming facility lowers, and as a result, there has been apprehension that the gaming facility loses profit. Further, there has been a problem that the manager in gaming facility takes preference to only improvement of one's own immediate profit against the manager's thought, highly sets a dividing number, and causes fixed customer to lose interest in shop in a long run.
In Patent Document 1, there is disclosure of a management apparatus for gaming facility to sum and manage work data on pachinko gaming machines.
(II) With respect to an apparatus for displaying game playing information by gaming machine, conventionally, a “cashbox” containing players' winning pachinko balls have been accumulatively placed around the players with an aim to render a stage effect to attract customers. If the amount of accumulations in this cashbox increases, it is an attractive promotion that the shop has a gaming machine that hits well; and however, there has potentially existed a problem that, if there arises a need to take refuge from shop in case of an emergency such as fire or earthquake, such cashbox becomes an obstacle, which causes delayed taking refuge. Therefore, there has existed a shop in which, if a predetermined amount in cashbox is reached, the shop staff carries the cashbox to a counting device and then the amount of money in cashbox is artificially limited to a predetermined number. On the other hand, recently, there have been more shops in which individual counting devices are provided at the respective pachinko gaming machines so as not to use the cashbox. It is inferred that such a trend will be introduced in all the related shops in the near future from the viewpoint of safety to sufficiently ensure a passageway to take refuge.
However, there has arisen a new problem that, if counting is thus performed by means of an individual counting device, it becomes impossible to visually appeal the fact that it is a fair gaming facility or there is a pachinko gaming machine that hits well by physically accumulating the cashbox.
Conventionally, it has been numerically indicated as to whether or not individual pachinko gaming machines hit well by means of input with the use of an input switch of the apparatus for displaying information by gaming machine, which is installed at an upper side of each gaming machine; and however, it has been sometimes inferior to an effect to physically display such as accumulating a cashbox as seen conventionally. In addition, there has also been a problem that, although it is possible to see the characteristics of a gaming machine which is not in play, it is difficult to see the characteristics of a gaming machine in play.
In Patent Document 2, there is disclosure of an apparatus for displaying information by gaming machine, including a function of displaying game playing information such as the number of big hits or the number of games played.
(III) In a case where there takes place a failure that no game playing pachinko ball is supplied to a gaming machine, a check work of pachinko ball jam in supply bucket or bellows and the like within a gaming machine bank is performed by the shop staff in gaming machine. The check work of pachinko ball jam is generally performed by upwardly turning a rack plate that is arranged on a front face of the supply bucket. This work is cumbersome in that, from the viewpoint of a player, concentration to the play of game is prevented or the play of game is forced to be interrupted, and it is desirable to speedily finish the work. For the gaming facility also, it is desirable to complete the check work of pachinko ball jam as speedily as possible from the viewpoint of operability. On the other hand, for the employees in gaming facility, for example, even if it is a comparatively less powerful employee such as women, it is desirable to be able to speedily complete the work.